


Chapter 3: One Step for Man

by TruebornAlpha



Series: The Road Not Taken [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, First Mission, Hallucinations, Keith and Shiro are disgustingly adorable, M/M, Near Future, Nightmares, SHEITH - Freeform, Space Exploration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-08-07 21:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7731214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TruebornAlpha/pseuds/TruebornAlpha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over three years have passed since Shiro returned from the Kerberos mission, a hero and a legend, to see his best friend graduate with the honors he always felt Keith deserved. Together they get the chance to make history again and to travel beyond the solar system. But health concerns plague Shiro, and seemingly unrelated events conspire to reveal a far more sinister truth. Something is desperately wrong, and ignoring the truth will cost more than they can pay.</p><p>Cute domestic Sheith fluff and looming heartbreak.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chapter 3: One Step for Man

The auditorium was filling up fast, overlapping conversations already at a dull roar. The overworked air conditioner struggled to keep up with the crowd, but Shiro could feel sweat slide down the back of his uniform. This day had been a long time coming and he was glad that after all their hard work, they were right at the end. A young man walked across the stage in his perfectly pressed uniform, the stripes of a senior on his sleeve and the stars of his rank pinned to his collar.

Shiro didn’t think he’d ever been so proud of him.

The top of the graduating class always gave the speech and Keith had been worrying about it for weeks. There was no question that he was going to finish miles ahead of his classmates, he pushed himself to the breaking point in everything he did. Shiro tried to keep him grounded on the weekends they managed to steal together and every single break between semesters. It wasn’t easy, but they made it work. Some things were worth the effort.

Keith had practiced the speech over and over, Shiro helping to find the right words. He was ready, but he still looked nervous at the podium, shuffling the note cards in the right order and scowling out at the crowd.

“Distinguished guests, administrators, officers and my graduating class, it is a great honor to stand before you and say, we finally did it.”

Shiro remembered walking in on Keith on nights they were supposed to spend together, surrounded by loose leaf paper, the voice recorder of his phone on, and Shiro’s laptop open on his lap. While Keith had been eager to leave the Garrison, he always balked at the idea of giving his graduation speech. Writing did not come easy to Keith, and he’d exhausted every medium he could find to get his creative juices flowing. If Shiro was being honest with himself, his delivery was a little flat. Keith spent too much time looking at his cards and glared at his audience when he remembered them, and would probably rather eat a sock than take the podium again, but Shiro wasn’t honest. He was helplessly charmed by the best speech he’d ever heard.

Movement in the crowd caught his attention, two faces out of an unfamiliar sea of them. A burly young man was trying to squirm away from his ganglier friend, but said friend was far too interested in whispering in his ear to be dissuaded.

He recognized the two boys from somewhere and he squinted as they squirmed in their seats. They wore third year uniforms, so they hadn’t started until after he graduated. Maybe Keith had mentioned them offhand, he seemed to remember the shorter one trying to challenge Keith. Or…? The bigger one caught Shiro’s disapproving frown and elbowed his friend until he looked over and gulped, sliding down in his seat like he was going to disappear.

Shiro pressed the heel of his hand against his head, feeling the familiar throb of a headache starting behind his eyes. He really should go over there and talk to them, it was important for some reason, even if he didn’t know why. Maybe they could explain…

But before he had a chance, the crowd cheered and Shiro was distracted by Keith’s proud grin as he took a small bow and waved his diploma. Then the rush of Garrison graduates flooded into the audience and Keith found his way to Shiro like a beacon, throwing himself into the older man’s arms with a laugh. Cellphone cameras went off in every direction as Shiro captured that bright smile in a kiss.

“We’re making a scene.” He teased.

“Wouldn’t be the first time, you’d think you’d be used to it by now.”

Keith talked big, but Shiro knew that if someone caught him off-guard with that newspaper headline from a few years ago, the one that proudly displayed him kissing his best friend in the hall of Mission Control, Keith would still go bright red. Shiro was more than okay with that.

“Well…” He drawled, watching his partner wrinkle his nose. “Let’s give them something to talk about.”

 

* * *

 

Everything was hazy the morning after. Slow and sluggish, like Shiro so rarely allowed himself to be, but this was a special occasion. It was just under ten o’clock, the sun's rays trying valiantly to peak through curtains that should have been opened hours ago. Keith was only just dragging himself out of bed. A threadbare shirt hung off his frame, just big enough for anyone to see that it wasn’t Keith’s while a pair of overly baggy pajamas clung to his hips. His eyes weren’t all the way open, but he padded around the kitchen, familiarity clear with every tap his bare feet left on tile. He fit perfectly, in Shiro’s clothes, in Shiro’s kitchen, in Shiro’s  _home_. But no, that wasn’t entirely right.

It was going to be Keith’s home now, too.

Keith opened the fridge and spent far too long squinting at its bright contents before Shiro pressed a mug of warm coffee into his hand and kissed the side of his head. “Morning, sunshine.”

Keith groaned dramatically and turned his face into Shiro’s shoulder.

Shiro wrapped his arms around Keith’s frame and pulled him in close, savoring the moment when everything just felt right. No more weekend trips or stolen weeks whenever the Garrison students were on break. No more whirlwind visits where Keith breezed into his life, trying to make the most out of every moment before work and school pulled them back again. This was their home together, the start of a life they’d been talking about for three years. He couldn’t wait.

He tugged at the edge of Keith’s sweatpants and was rewarded with an irritated grunt. “Didn’t you bring any of your own clothes or do you plan on just wearing all of mine?”

“They fit.” Keith muttered, rubbing his face sleepily in Shiro’s chest before pulling away so he could focus on pumping enough coffee into his system to stay awake. “Didn’t have much stuff anyways.”

The few bags Keith had brought with him were sitting abandoned in the living room. All his spare uniforms and the few pieces of civilian clothing he owned, but not much else. Being an orphan bouncing around the system meant he hadn’t collected much and it was always better to travel light when you had no idea when your next move would be. Shiro wasn’t going to begrudge him a few oversized t-shirts now that he could finally put down roots. Besides, he looked good with the fabric slipping down to bare one shoulder.

“I keep forgetting that you’re still a lightweight. You’re not hungover this morning, are you?”

“I am not!” Keith protested, but his eyes were puffy, and that line between his brows was deep enough for Shiro to rest a quarter on. Shiro just kissed it away. Didn’t believe him for a second, but Keith was always more affectionate when he had a headache.

Keith was placated, and busied himself with trying to press his cheek into Shiro’s chest while guzzling his coffee at the same time. Something was bound to spill. If avoiding it meant Shiro had to embrace his boyfriend extra tight, well, it was a sacrifice that he would just have to make.

“The bacon’s extra greasy.”

“Urgh Takashi, I love you.”

Shiro had heard Keith say those words so many times, in so many ways over the years. Sleepy and muffled was still in his top ten. Hearing his name like that still made his belly twist, a novelty after all this time, and eventually it would lose its shine. Shiro was kind of excited for that, for when Keith was such a steady part of his life that he couldn’t imagine coming back to an empty apartment.

“We don’t have to go anywhere, right?”

“Well, you have to confirm your schedule with Mission Control. Seriously, Dr. Holt is sending  _letters_  now.” His hand found Keith’s hair, scratching along the back of his skull, and if Keith could, Shiro would bet he’d be purring. “They want to make sure they have their newest hotshot pilot locked down.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Do they really think I’ll let you fly with anyone else?” Keith grumbled.

“You’d better not.” Shiro huffed. After all those years of waiting, their first mission to deep space was together to explore a comet well beyond the edges of the solar system. It was going to be the first time anyone landed on an extrasolar object and Shiro couldn’t think of anyone else he’d rather be stuck in a small confined space with for over a year. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.”

Keith just grunted, before reluctantly pulling away so he could rummage around for Shiro’s headache medicine. He found them eventually, even if he checked the cutlery drawer twice. He popped two of the pills before flopping his face down on the table. “If I think about flying right now, I’m going to spew my guts like that third year kid.”

“That’s what you get for celebrating too hard.” He couldn’t tease him too much, last night had been worth the celebration and the drunken, sloppy way they’d celebrated in private when they’d stumbled home. Shiro hummed to himself, lighting the stove and getting breakfast ready. Heavy on the fried meats, just for Keith.

Shiro lifted the frying pan and hissed, the heavy cast iron pan wobbling in his grip before he set it back down on the stove with a clatter. Keith peeked out from his arms with a frown, roiling stomach forgotten in his worry. “You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Shiro rubbed his thumb along his right wrist, trying to play off his mistake like nothing had happened, but Keith kept staring as if he could force the truth from the other man. They worried it was nerve damage, some kind of ache that started in Shiro’s wrist and shot up through his elbow. The doctors weren’t sure what had caused it, it could just be a pinched nerve or even stress. If there was some kind of real damage, it might mean Shiro could never fly again, but Keith didn’t want to even consider the possibility. They had plans, dreams, they’d worked so hard all their lives for this and they weren’t going to let everything fall apart right before they made it.

“Shiro-”

“It’s fine, see?” He flexed his arm when Keith just scowled, and set a plate full of eggs and bacon in front of him. “Nothing’s wrong, just eat.”

Shiro wanted to believe it would be, but they wouldn’t know until his physician weighed in, and he suspected that was what Keith was waiting for as well. Keith wasn’t even trying to be subtle about it, and if he gave up everything just to stay with him, Shiro didn’t think he would be able to forgive himself.

Then Keith grabbed him by the front of his shirt, a sharp jerking motion that nearly sent him toppling face first into the table. He didn’t have to worry. His partner was there to catch him, affectionately bumping their noses close and coaxing him into a lazy, distracting kiss. Shiro was smiling when he pulled away.

Curses. Tricked again.

“Morning breath.” Shiro teased, but his eyes had slipped close, and he could almost feel the way Keith’s throat worked as he growled. He left one last kiss on the tip of Shiro’s chin before settling in to stuff himself with as much food as his face could hold.

Shiro puttered around, putting away the pans he used, pouring them both coffee before he took the seat opposite Keith and flicked on his tablet to read the morning news. A quiet, easy morning, the first of many.

It was perfect. 

 

* * *

 

 

Lazy summer days couldn’t last with responsibility lurking around every corner, and each day they managed to steal was a gift. Before long, even Keith wasn’t able to ignore the requests from Mission Control. 

Space was enormous. Of course space was big, that was obvious, but nothing had ever really prepared Keith for what that had really meant until he was here staring at a screen full of stars and closer to reaching them then they’d ever been in his life. It had been only a few weeks, but they’d passed Saturn just a day ago and Keith had spent the entire time pressed against the windows watching the sweep of rings that seemed to stretch on forever.

The ship was bigger than he was used to, but Dr. Holt had insisted on bringing heavy duty drilling equipment with them on their trip. The comet was an anomaly, it’s flight pattern erratic and unpredictable. Mission Control thought that it might shed some light on other deep space objects as they turned their eye towards exoplanets, but the Holts had even more hope. He’d listened to Dr. Holt and his son Matt excitedly talk about the possibilities buried deep in the ice and rock of something that hurtled so far across the galaxy. If the conditions were right, they hoped they might even find evidence of life on it.

Discovering alien life on his very first trip out. It was too exciting to miss.

The possibilities were endless. Keith had never felt so small, like he could disappear at any moment. If he tried to reach out, he was sure the void would swallow him whole, and that was almost too hopelessly lonely to think about.

Funny how Keith had found a built in cure for that. 

“What’s on your mind?” His co-pilot made his way towards him, a pressurized canister with Keith’s name on it in hand. Shiro was always a sight for sore eyes. “You get a look on your face when your thoughts run away with you.”

“I do not,” Keith protested, touching his face almost self-conscious in his annoyance. Shiro just laughed.

“You do, too. Now spill.” 

But he stepped right up to Keith, close enough that the younger man could lean on him, his expression softening without any conscious thought. Keith had never cared for perfect moments, but he suspected he was living through one.

“Space big. Human small. Nothing groundbreaking.” Yet after all this time, he was still captivated. He elbowed Shiro gently, trying to ground himself the best way he knew how. “How did you handle it the first time you were out here?”

He spoke like Shiro was some kind of wizened explorer, and they both laughed at him for it. Then something shifted.

“I kept a list.” Shiro’s voice lowered, like he was recalling a memory through a mind filled with smog.  “Of all the things I wanted to tell you. I…”

“Shiro?” He put a hand on the other man’s arm and drew him back from wherever he’d been. Shiro just smiled and shrugged off the lapse.

“I must have left it somewhere. I guess I was just too excited to get home again. That’s what happens when there’s something good waiting for you.” He teased and kissed the side of Keith’s face who fluttered his hands to swat him away.

“You're on duty right now, Captain. You shouldn’t be fraternizing with the co-pilot.”

“Well, we wouldn’t want to break any rules.” Shiro laughed and squeezed into the seat beside the other man. There wasn’t enough room and they shoved and elbowed for space, turning into each other and tangling their limbs together until Keith was half sitting on Shiro’s lap. 

“I wouldn’t say  _any_  rules.” Keith settled back against the other man. “It really is beautiful out here.”

“It’s better with you here. You know, I don’t think we’ve ever been able to spend so much time together.”

“You’re not getting sick of me already, are you?” It was a teasing question, but Keith couldn’t help the small frisson of fear that came along with it. Even now, there was the small voice in the back of his head telling him that this was too good to be real.

Shiro tightened his arms around him, smiling into Keith’s shoulder. “I’ve been waiting years to share this with you. I plan on taking my time and enjoying every minute.” He waited a beat, before stressing with meaning, “In the cockpit.”

Keith groaned and reached behind him to smack at Shiro’s hip, only to leave him cackling. It was enough to make Keith think long and hard about protocol and how much of a black mark he was willing to put on his record.

Their jobs were difficult, but they were well-trained. Dr. Holt kept them occupied when he and his team couldn’t handle their experiments without an extra set of hands, but their biggest obstacle was time. Keith wasn’t complaining. He was more than happy wasting it with his best friend.

As they neared the comet, they faced their biggest challenge yet. They had a predicted flight path, but everyone expected the comet to change course. It was up to Keith and Shiro to make sure they landed safely - and caught a falling star.

“Engaging thrusters, going to manual.” Shiro said, the ship shuddering as it slowed for descent. They worked well together, trained in tandem to almost predict each other’s movements. It was like they were connected, keeping the ship steady as they attempted to land on the tumbling comet that streaked through space. Keith toggled the controls lightly, avoiding bits of ice and chunks of rock that followed the comet in its wake.

“Got it.” Keith’s eyes were glued to the screen, hands flying over the controls like he’d done this a thousand times before. Behind them, Dr. Holt, Matt, and the rest of the small science crew strapped in tight and waited with white knuckles for the two pilots to get them to their destination.

“Watch it.” The words were barely out of Shiro’s mouth before Keith had already reacted, tipping the ship slightly to adjust their course. He found himself smiling. This was what it was about, the real thrill of flight, the danger, the feeling of having a skilled and trusted companion at his side. 

The ship heaved, spiraling around the comet’s tail before approaching reaching the massive main body. A few more tense minutes and they landed with a slight bump, gear digging deep into the icy surface. A cheer went up from the crew and Shiro sat back in his seat, crossing his arms and grinning.

“Nice job.”

“Right back at you,” Keith replied, the color high on his cheeks, a smile tugging hard at the corner of his lips. Flying was all that ever really belonged to him, even before Shiro. Now it was harder to differentiate the two. “We’re not done yet.”

Shiro was already unbuckling his harness, and he gave the rest of the crew a quick thumbs up. The Galaxy Garrison prepared them for peaceful space exploration, but it was a military organization at its core. Of the crew, he and Keith were the best equipped to handle securing the landing site before any of their colleagues disembarked. That never worried Shiro as much as it maybe should have.

They gathered their space suits. Even though they were products of the most advanced technology available to humans, Shiro always expected more of them, more that didn’t make sense. He wanted them to be lighter, almost as much as he wanted them armored.

“One small step for man,” Shiro started, tipping Keith a wink that his partner did not return.

“Watch yourself out there, boys.” Dr. Holt’s voice came in through their communicators.

“Just making sure the radios work,” Shiro said. “Opening the airlock, now.”

They stepped into a new world with a rush of air.

The suits kept out the freezing cold of space as they stepped out onto the icy surface of the comet. The sky above was ringed in frost, frozen crystals hazing the dim points of silver in a halo. It was beautiful and Shiro felt like he could almost reach out and touch them. The comet was huge, extending out in miles of glassy, pockmarked ice in every direction. He could feel it crunch beneath his feet even if he couldn’t hear it.

This was just a precaution, but no one had ever set foot on a comet before and they were going to play this exactly by the book. Shiro hefted the long metal spike, light blinking at it’s tip as he measured out careful steps away from the ship to set up a perimeter. The entire comet wasn’t large enough for anyone to get lost, but the portable gravity enhancers would help make sure none of the scientists bounced so high in the target work site that they’d ejected into outer space. He drove one deep into the ice, setting the machine and pacing off to set the second.

“I’ve got two set, working on the third.” Keith’s voice chimed in his helmet and Shiro paused, picking up a small chuck of the powdered ice and lobbing it towards the other pilot. It smacked into the back of Keith’s helmet and he turned with a deadpanned stare. “Really?”

“Comet me, bro!”

“Shiro, this is being recorded.”

The older man just shrugged and Keith had to turn off his mic so no one would hear him laugh. He didn’t know what was worse, Shiro’s jokes or that he actually found them funny.

A small glint caught the light from the ship, shining like metal out in the ice and Keith stopped to get a closer look.

Shiro only caught a glimpse of his retreating back. He had no reason to worry. They were the only ones moving on the surface of the comet, and their crew was keeping an eye on them, but something curled into the pit of his stomach, a chill that not even their space suits could keep out.

“Keith, wait-”

It was too late.

The thing rose from the ground, a monster that had stepped straight out of a nightmare. Its head was covered in sleek, glossy fur, marred only by three identical protrusions that extended from the top of its skull. Its many eyes blinked in a row above a beak-shaped snout that darkened a mouth cut in an angry, unforgiving line. Its long, bony arms spread out towards them, talons outstretched, and somehow, Shiro knew they were immensely powerful. The creature was untouched by the frost, moving with an inhuman grace that nothing of Earth would have been prepared to master.

It charged straight at Keith.

Shiro yelled, even as his co-pilot fell into crouch, ripping a gravity enhancer from the frozen stone and wielded the long pole with expert skill like a quarterstaff.

Shiro moved with more speed than he expected, falling into familiar patterns of combat that Keith knew all too well. He charged at the beast, slamming his fist through its hide to drive it back. He slashed, using his entire arm like a weapon as if his touch alone could slice it in two. It took him too long to realize that his hands were empty, and he was fighting without any weapons at all. His partner parried and thrust, using the gravity enhancer like a sword. The sharp point caught in the beast’s translucent mass and the creature roared.

“What the hell is that?!” Keith’s voice was frantic in his ear, but Shiro couldn’t answer. A blast of light from the creature’s eye seared across his body and all he could do was scream.

It felt like there were thousands of people screaming with him. Agony seared up his arm and he dropped to his knees, clutching his arm to his chest. Drums beat in his ears as the energy ate its way through his suit like acid, burning everything it touched until it flayed him alive. He was dying from a dozen wounds and choking on the blood. He couldn’t breathe, he was going to die here so far from home and no one would ever know what had happened to him. They had to run, it was the only way they were going to survive. He needed to get Keith out of here!

With a roar, he lurched to his feet in a frenzied rage, grabbing one of the gravity enhancers and stabbing it deep into the creature’s eyes. The beast gurgled, collapsing in on itself until it blew away like smoke as if it had never existed.

Shiro stared at his hands in shock, the weight on the end of his makeshift weapon eerily familiar, but something had been wrong about it. Not the creature, but the pressure, the maneuverability. It should have been different. It should have been  _easier._

Then a blinding, pulsating pressure resonated behind Shiro’s eyes. It rippled through his skull, hard enough that he was sure bone would crack, leaving him gasping in pain, clawing through his heavy helmet for the chance to tear through his own head. He could end it. He could end everything. Keith was with him in an instant, but it was wrong, it was all wrong. The space suit was too clumsy, too unwieldy. He couldn’t feel Keith, and he needed to, he had to reach him or-!

“Captain, come in. Captain Shirogane, do you read?” Dr. Holt’s voice came in too sharp, strained with barely contained panic.

The pain subsided. His vision cleared, slowly at first, and finally all Shiro had to do was blink away his tears. It took him longer to find his balance, but Keith hadn’t left his side, concern etched across his features. Right now, Shiro needed to hold him, just hold him.

On the ground, the gravity enhancer rested unharmed, like nothing stronger than a breeze had knocked it over, but Keith still kept a vice grip on his.

“I-I’m here, Dr. Holt.” Shiro’s voice sounded shaky to his own ears. “Did you get a reading on that thing? What the hell  _was_ it?”

“Thing?” There was a short pause and muffled words like Dr. Holt was talking with someone else before returning to the com. “There’s nothing out there, Captain. We just finished our second sweep of the landing site, none of the readings changed since you and Captain Kogane left the ship.”

“But that’s not possible!” He struggled to his feet even as Keith tried to pull him back. “There was a creature here, I saw it! I-it was alive.”

“I can assure you that there’s nothing alive except the two of you on that rock.” Dr. Holt said cheerily, but something softened his voice. “It might have been a shadow, with the ice halo around the comet, I’m sure there’s quite a few strange optical illusions out there.

Shiro snarled, searching the ground for some sign of the beast, but the only tracks he found were his own footprints and Keith’s beside him. There was no trace of the creature, no sign it had ever attacked them. It couldn’t have possibly been only a shadow.

“I swear there was something here.”

“Maybe the two of you should return to the ship. If your oxygen tanks are malfunctioning, it could be causing you to see things. They need to be recalibrated right away.” 

He looked over at Keith, faltering as the other man just touched his arm and pointed at the ship. “Come on, we should go back inside.”

“But you saw it too, right? You saw the creature?” He almost begged Keith to confirm it, anything to prove he wasn’t losing his mind. His co-pilot looked back behind them at the bleak, empty ice field. 

“I thought I-, come on Shiro. We need to head back.”

They were out on the comet in a matter of hours, and again the next day, and again on the day after that. No one mentioned the creature, but every time they were out, Keith found his way to Shiro’s side.

 

* * *

 

They returned to Earth as heroes, the pioneers of a new age in space exploration. They were recognized in the streets, sometimes they overheard their names in other people’s conversations. On two separate occasions, complete strangers offered to pay for dinner, and even after returning from them, the stars still held their seductive allure. Shiro didn’t think his life had ever been so good. Back to back high-profile missions had turned him into a celebrity of sorts, just famous enough to reap the rewards without any of the consequences to drag him down. Most importantly, he had Keith. He had everything he didn’t know he was allowed to want.

So it was with a heavy heart that he allowed himself to be lead into the office of the company appointed therapist, Dr. Nakayama Miu. One incident could change everything, and Shiro wished he could pretend it never happened. He just couldn’t do that to Keith, nor could he do that to himself.

Dr. Miu was a tiny woman, with plump cheeks and thick glasses that hid the crows feet around her round eyes. It was those glasses, he realized belatedly that reminded him so much of his own mother.

“Please come in.” She gestured with a kind smile to set Shiro at ease he awkwardly sat in one of the large, overstuffed chairs in her office. He ran his fingertips up and down the upholstered arms of the chair as she sat across from him, flipping through a small folder to read his file.

“Well, Mr. Shirogane, I have to say I’m honored to have such a hero coming to visit me today.” She said, closing the file and settling back to squint at him over her glasses. “But I see you’ve been having frequent headaches and nightmares. You even had a full sensory hallucination on a mission?”

“They said it was something wrong with my oxygen system.” Shiro said quietly, trying as always to convince himself they were right. He’d seen the records himself. His pump had been working at only three-fourths the recommended output. They’d replaced it immediately. That should have been enough to convince him. Sometimes it wasn’t. “I don’t really think that’s related. I’m fit to fly I just, I just want to be sure.”

“I can help you, but you need to stop fighting, Shiro. Therapy is only going to work if you’re willing to give it a chance.”

The man exhaled slowly before giving a single nod. “I want to try. The people I love are worried about me and I don’t want to put them through this.”

“Very good.” The Therapist said, switching on her audio recorder. “Then let’s get started. Why don’t you tell me about those nightmares of yours.”  

Their sessions helped. Shiro never saw the beast again, and over the years, Shiro would spend more and more time in Dr. Miu’s office.

Yet neither he nor Keith would ever return to space.

 

**Author's Note:**

> You can find Dans's being awesome [here](http://nevertrustastilesthing.tumblr.com/)
> 
> You can find Rune on tumblr at [ Runicscribbles](http://runicscribbles.tumblr.com)


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